Using Storage Class Memory for Archives with DAWN, a Durable Array of Wimpy Nodes

Published as
Storage Systems Research Center
Technical Report UCSC-SSRC-11-05.
NOTE: This report has been superseded by Technical Report UCSC-SSRC-11-07, please refer to that version.

Abstract

The long life and low usage of archival data make cost considerations paramount. Today, most archival storage architectures depend on magnetic or optical media such as tape and disk because they have a low initial cost per byte. The high initial cost of storage class memories (SCMs) has been seen as prohibitive for archival use.
Nevertheless, SCMs have many advantages for archival use, including physical robustness and low power usage. In this work, we argue that a suitable architecture can exploit these advantages to make SCM competitive with magnetic media for archival use. Inspired by the FAWN and Pergamum systems, we outline the design of DAWN, a Durable Array of Wimpy Nodes. DAWN will make use of low-power system-on-chip technology paired with SCM to provide a simple, reliable, self-managing archival storage system.
NOTE: This report has been superseded by Technical Report UCSC-SSRC-11-07, please refer to the up to date version here

This material is based on work supported in part by the
National Science Foundation
under grant IIP-1266400.
Any opinions, findings and conclusions or recommendations
expressed in this material are those of the author(s) and
do not necessarily reflect the views of the
National Science Foundation.